Mary, you can keep adding to your original post - get all your questions answered in one place. Your pie pans might be a little shallow, containers that will hold min 3" soil depth work best for most.

I don't think it's necessary to buy the source book at first. With over 3,000 varieties listed in the Yearbook, which comes out not always in Feb, although that's a target date, there's plenty to chose from. And as a long time Life member of SSE I don't think SSE membership is for everyone. Don't get me wrong here, being a member helps very much to further the goal of SSE which is preservation of OP varieties . But I'd prefer to see folks join who have had some experience in growing tomatoes and that's b'c a certain percentage of seeds you request may not be pure and you need to know how to rogue out plants and you also need to know how to save seeds in terms of reoffering varieties that you might request. And while reoffering is desired, not everyone does it, unfortunately. And I agree with what jackbenny said above, in that the Yearbook should never be seen as a seed catalog. After a person has grown lots of the more common varieties offered commercially, then I think it's fine to go searching for the more rare varieties that are offered there. The other fact to note is that there are listed SSE members and non listed members and as mentioned above, listed members list their varieties in the Yearbook and those seeds are available to both listed and unlisted members but the cost/pack is higher for unlisted members. Currently, for US members the cost of a pack of tomato seeds is $2 for listed members and $3 for unlisted members. A few folks like myself ask the same price for both listed and unlisted members. So by all means if a person is interested in preserving genetic diversity I would urge anyone to join SSE if not for obtaining seed, then just for helping SSE with your membership monies. SSE has been an important part of my tomato life, as it were, LOL, and I've made many good friends through the years. I joined I think in 1989, and it's been a great experience for me. There's also a PUBLIC catalog with about 40 or so varieties that anyone can order from and the online version can be found at seedsavers.org Carolyn

It could be my eyes, but in your inspiration pic, it appears the the seat trim goes out a bit beyond the neighboring cabinets. And the seat does extend beyond the bookcases on either side of the sketch that comes up at the top left in the bench example link above. How much does the trim extend beyond your bookcases? How deep is the seat overall? Could it be due to the fact that it needed to be made deeper to be a usable seat? It might be tough to sit on a seat that is the depth of many bookcases. It might be more of a 'perch' than a true seat if not deep enough. Is it possible that it might look a bit unfinished if it didn't extend a bit beyond? Do you plan to put a cushion and pillows on your bench that might hide the 'overage'?

To answer (some of) your original question(s), whenever I've worked with a decorator they have 100% stood behind the products they've helped me obtain. Recently a headboard I had made (through the designer) was delivered in the wrong colorway: I refused delivery and called the designer. They immediately (& kindly) apologized and said they would take care of it. Within twenty-four hours they called me back to let me know it was being made again, in the correct colorway and as a rush order. She was professional, courteous (but not obsequious) and sounded genuinely kind and concerned about my (headboard) happiness. Then when the delivery company the designer had contracted gave me a hard time just this past Thursday (trying to charge me for a redelivery fee when delivering the new, correct headboard) I called her again. Again, she immediately did everything right, she said all the right things (sincerely apologized, told me I was right, said she would contact the delivery company, etc.), and took care of it. Like a few above respondents (and I'm sorry I didn't carefully read all of them -- you've a lot of supporters out there!) my experience has been that the designer / decorator is my advocate and has left me feeling cossetted. The only negative experience I had (and it was a doozy) was with an unethical kitchen designer and we contentiously parted ways. But she'd made it abundantly clear that if anything hit the fan I'd be left to clean it up. Alone. She'd be off getting her nails done and screwing her next client. We "lost" some money with her but when I think of the money we would have lost (and that I would have had to spend in therapy / legal fees!) had we continued our "relationship" with her it was well worth it. She happens to be our neighbor! Well, a few houses up the street but we see each other all the time, walking, driving, etc. So I totally understand the uncomfortable social situations! But at the end of the day, I really was right, and not just because "the customer is always right." I was right because I was consistent, forthright, genuine and HONEST. She, like your former designer, was inconsistent, evasive, disingenuous and a prevaricator. Period.